


Fiancée for Adrien Agreste

by Astal



Series: Miraculous Match [1]
Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Aged-Up Character(s), All Boys School, All girls school, Arranged Marriage, But mostly fluff, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Identity Reveal, Kissing, LadyNoir - Freeform, Plagg is usles, Secret Relationship, Song quoting, Tikki is good friend, adrienette - Freeform, bit of angst, rich kids problems
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-11-05
Updated: 2016-12-23
Packaged: 2018-08-29 07:02:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 10,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8479732
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Astal/pseuds/Astal
Summary: Fifteen minutes ago he was running across Paris rooftops, the taste of Ladybugs kisses still on his lips and now he had hit rock-bottom in the pit of despair. He spent two long years convincing her that he truly loves her and was worth her affection. And when she finally returned his crazy feelings, Gabriel Agreste decided to drop an atomic bomb on their happily ever after.For the first time in his life, Adrien considered running away from home abroad and becoming a shepherd in the Alps.Au in which Adrien and Mari go to diffrent schools and know each other only as superheros.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Shout out for my brave beta Koreon who don't watch the show but he decided to help me with fic anyway.

“NO!”  
Gabriel didn’t even flinch. He stood stiffly by the door. Adrien decided to try again because his father, contrary to the entire neighborhood, apparently did not heard him.  
“I said…”  
“I heard clearly the first time” Gabriel hissed, frowning. “But in fact, your opinion does not change the situation.”  
“But... but... You can’t do that! What rights do you have to choose a fiancée for me?! What is this, the Middle Ages? Who arranges marriages nowadays?”  
“People who care about the wellbeing of their children” snapped his father, taking two steps into the room. “To be honest it was your mother’s idea, but I fully support it.”  
Ah yes, Adrien thought angrily, mother’s idea. If she wanted to send him on Mars, they would be probably halfway to the rocket launching site. Father was doing everything he could so the world would not forget about Elaine Agreste, although she passed away almost five years ago.  
For example, this idiotic marriage meeting. Just because this unfortunate girl who was chosen for him, was the daughter of his mother best friend, now Adrien has to agree on this whether he wanted to have a fiancée or not. After all, this agreement has been made when he was only two years old! How can he spend the rest of his life with a girl he had never seen? This whole situation was more than absurd.  
“I won’t go” said Adrien, crossing his arms and standing in a defensive stance. He will fight for his freedom, no matter the consequences.  
“You will go and you will be very happy about it” said the father, turning his back to him. “You're nineteen and you have practically no contacts with girls in your age.”  
“That's not true! Chloe…”  
“Adrien...“ father interrupted him, glancing over his shoulder.” Let's make something clear, neither us would want you marry Chloe…”  
“Well, atleast we agree on that…” Adrien muttered, then sighed deeply.  
“You have exactly one week to get used to the idea” it was an order, not a request. Gabriel Agreste never asked anybody, not even his own son. Adrien screamed in despair. “Don’t act like spoiled little princess” he added, closing the door behind him.  
To give vent to his frustration, Adrien kicked a chair that crashed into the wall with a loud bang and broke into pieces.  
“If I'm a princess, you're evil stepmother!” he roared, but he knew too well that his father was too far away to hear him.  
He swore loudly and, feeling defeated, went on the other side of the room to see how bad the damage was. Sometimes he forgot about his own strength.  
“Be careful superhero!” Plagg, jumped out from his hiding, but Adrien waved his hand as if kwami was an annoying fly.  
“I’m not in the mood.”  
“Well, I figured. A few months ago you didn’t have a single girl and now you suddenly have two. Bravo Casanova.”  
Adrien groaned and then dramatically flung himself on the bed.  
Ladybug…  
How will he explain this to her?  
Fifteen minutes ago he was running across Paris rooftops, the taste of Ladybugs kisses still on his lips and now he had hit rock-bottom in the pit of despair. He spent two long years convincing her that he truly loves her and was worth her affection. And when she finally returned his crazy feelings, Gabriel Agreste decided to drop an atomic bomb on their happily ever after.  
For the first time in his life, Adrien considered running away from home abroad and becoming a shepherd in the Alps.

“Oh dude, you are in real deep shit” Nino took a French fry from his friend plate and began to chew looking at Adrien with pity. “Being engaged at such young age... What if she turns out to be a total butterface or something like that?”  
Adrien, who sat beside him, resting his blond head on the table, groaned, like a dying animal.  
“I don’t care what she looks like” he said, straightening up. “I already have someone!”  
“Ah yes” Nino grinned, then helped himself with another fry. “This mysterious lady of yours, which you hide from me. Why don’t you tell your father about her? Old Gabi certainly would be thrilled that he doesn't have to leave his cave and meet people”.  
“I can’t... She's... I just can’t… It’s complicated ok?” Adrien slammed his forehead on the table so hard that Nino’s cola spilled on the counter.  
School cafeteria was full of people at this hour. Lunch time just started.  
All boys St. George's High School was a very elite facility with very high education level. Here students had access to many extra activities such as horse riding, drama classes, various sports clubs and music lessons as well as a five-star catering services. Here, cafeteria looked more like a hotel restaurant, than a school canteen.  
“Nino save me” pleaded Adrien as he scanned crowd around them. Everywhere he looked he was surrounded by boys in navy jackets. Red ties flashing everywhere. Every day he asked himself why on earth he I agreed on go to school only for boys.  
“Like how? Your old man scares me to the death”.  
“I don’t know... Tell him that I can’t marry this girl, because... because... because you and I are a couple”.  
Nino raised his dark eyebrows, as if he wanted to ask his friend if he had completely gone mad.  
“Listen, we totally can pull this off!” Adrien continued, his eyes becoming clouded a little with haze of madness. “We will just tell my dad that I'm not into girls and he won’t force me on this stupid meeting. He would make fool of himself in front of that family”.  
“And then we will have a lovely wedding. We both will wear beautiful dresses. Mine will be made of champagne pink lace. You are more like white taffeta type”.  
“Dude, I’m asking you only about ten to twenty years of your life... It's really not that much... Will you leave my fries?”  
Adrien slapped his friend's hand, sitting back again. Despite of the overwhelming despair, he had to eat, he could not live on hatred for his father alone. Ladybug would immediately have noticed if he started losing weight. It was matter of honor for her to feed him. According to her he was as thin as a homeless.  
“It's a very bad sign for our marriage” Nino grumbled, rubbing his hand. “Since when do you have such reflexes?”  
Adrien ignored the question, focusing on his lunch. He had less than six days to came up with a plan. A better one, than the wedding with his best friend. Running away was also out of the question. Father would have moved heaven and earth to find him. If only it was necessary, he would even open the gates of hell. Natalie would be more than happy to help.  
“Listen, Adrien, maybe it is not bad idea after all?” said Nino looking at his friend with pity. Poor guy. He finally managed to convince some chick to look past his terrible puns and anime obsession, and now he had to abandon her because he got engaged with a stranger. “Who knows you may fall in love with that girl and immediately run away with her to Vegas?”  
“That’s not an option…”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Marinette was one hundred percent sure that she heard wrong. She blinked several times as if she doubted whether she can see well too. It couldn’t be true that her parents, those sweet and understanding people, called her down to the living room only to talk about the matrimonial meeting.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I couldn't let poor Adrien suffer alone. Let the comedy od errors and angst begins.  
> Thank you all for comments and kudos! I'm really happy you liked my work :)

Marinette was one hundred percent sure that she heard wrong. She blinked several times as if she doubted whether she can see well too. It couldn’t be true that her parents, those sweet and understanding people, called her down to the living room only to talk about the matrimonial meeting.  
“Are you crazy?” she asked, looking from her mother to her father.  
“Honey, listen... “ Tom began, glancing at his wife unsurely. “It was an old agreement... This is a very nice family... and your mother’s friend…”  
“Yup you two are definitely crazy!” declared Marinette, sitting stiffly. “No! I won’t listen any of this. Just one, big, giant “no”!”  
Sabine shifted herself a little on the couch and cleared her throat. Oh goodie, Mari thought, clenching her hands into fists on her lap, the entering of the dragon.  
“Marinette, darling” her mother voice was sweet, but the look in her eyes was anything but gentle. They were like two silver-gray daggers aimed at the throat of her daughter. “You have every right to be angry, I understand that. But in China, this is quite normal. In fact your grandparents have met that way…”  
That was too much for Marinette to handle. She jumped up and stamped her foot. Unfortunately, this didn’t made impression on her parents. Nobody cared of her tantrums. She wasn’t an adorable six years old after all.  
“I know that the tradition and history are super important but for God's sake, we do not live in China Ming Dynasty! This may have worked out for grandparents, I don’t want to meet my future husband like this!”  
“Mari” Tom finally spoke, surrounding his wife's shoulder by his arm. “We won’t force you to do anything. If you don't like this boy, nothing will happen. Just try giving this idea a chance.”  
“Sweetie, you see, you are not child anymore... At the beginning we wanted to call it off, but you have never dated any boy and we thought that maybe, this little matchmaking won’t hurt anybody…”  
“But I…” Marinette began, but fortunately she bit her tongue in time. What she wanted to say? "I already am in serious relationship with a mysterious guy, who wears skin-tight leather catsuit and even I don’t know his real name this never stopped me from making out with him on almost every rooftop of in the city"? No, no. That sounded so bad that it wouldn’t go even through the mouth.  
She looked at her parents and her heart sank. They smiled so encouragingly that if they tried to sell something to her now, she would have bought.  
Maybe she could get out of this absurd situation somehow? After all, she could go to this meeting, act like total idiot, make a complete fool of herself and then in the evening she could still go on patrol / date and Chat Noir would never know about this.  
Yes ... it sounded like a pretty good plan.  
“Well…” she sighed, acting like she had given up fighting. “I'll go, but I’m not making any promises. There is no such thing as love at first sight.”

 

“Run away from home!”  
“Alya, but…”  
“Run as fast as you can and never look back. I will fake your death!”  
Marinette rolled her eyes and decided to focus her attention on physic textbook. A few months ago she scribbled on the margin of the pages a few images of Chat Noir. As soon as she saw them her heart sunk. She felt like a traitor, although she didn’t want to go to this meeting. She wondered if it wasn’t the time to finally get to know Chat identity and start going out like normal people does. None of them was brave enough to decide what they should do. They knew each other for so long as superheroes. Several months passed since they figured out that what they feel for each other is something more than friendship. And now they were more than friends but kinda less than lovers. To tell the truth they weren't really dating. To do so properly she should have go on an actual date with him. Patrols, which quickly changed in making out on the top of the Eiffel Tower was hardly dating. Not that it was something she didn’t enjoy. It just it wasn't candlelit dinner or going to see movies.  
Marinette spent many sleepless nights wondering about whether she should let their relationship evolve or not. Chat long time ago has declared that he will wait until she will be ready. He was so understanding and patient. She just couldn’t not to fall in love with him. She would be a complete moron if she would let him get away.  
“Ok I will come to your house before this whole thing, and I'll make you the worst make up and the ugliest hairstyle world has ever seen” Alya suggested eagerly. Mari looked at her gratefully, but shook her head anyway.  
“My mom will put a curse on you.”  
“Do you think she can do that?”  
Marinette shrugged her shoulders. In the past she would say no, but once she was not Ladybug. Ever since she met Tikki she didn’t wanted to speak her mind about magic in public.  
“I don’t understand why you are so chill about this? If I were you I would run around the city and set buildings on fire or was already halfway to the border.”  
“My parents raised me well. Unfortunately.”  
“And what if this guy is a complete moron?” Alya leaned over to her friend, so that she almost flattened herself on the table. “What if it's just some rich douchebag? Maybe he can’t even know how to read and write?”  
“It doesn’t matter if he is not a genius. I don’t plan to marry a Nobel Prize winner. For me, what's important is that he is a good man” Marinette sighed, flipping through the pages of her textbook without much enthusiasm. In front of them on the table laid a worksheet of problem that they have to solve out, but right now they had other, more important things on their minds.  
All girls from her class who sat by their desks around Marinette and Alya also were busy with gossiping and not interested in academic matters. Final exams were approaching, but the girls from the artistic class of Fleur-de-luce High School, couldn’t really focus on studying right now. It was almost summer and warm air and the smell freshly mowed grass and heated asphalt was getting through open windows into the classroom.  
Marinette suddenly wished to be somewhere far away. Shaded bell towers of Notre Dame... cool spans the Eiffel Tower... She felt Tikki moving in her pocket. They both were probably thinking about the same thing.  
Just a few hours, Mari thought, glancing at her wrist watch. Last lesson, then hour of fashion designing club and finally they will be able to free themselves from the heat and all the problems.


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> “Today everything has to be according to plan!” akuma cried frantically, hurling flowers from her wilted bouquet into people. “This is my special day!”  
> Marinette sighed, then she set her yo-yo in motion. Hawk Moth had an absurd sense of mood sometimes. She wrote a memo for herself to kick his ass extra hard once she met the villain.  
> “Well, miss” she snapped, moving toward the akuma. “Forgive me spoil you your "happily ever after"!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If someone don't know songs Mari and Adrien quoted or never seen Grease - what are you doing with you life? Go to youtube and educate yourself now! :)

He almost got a heart attack when she suddenly landed next to him. He waited for her a long time. She was late, but gave no excuse. She immediately decided that they would do the rounds around the city center.  
The night was peaceful and warm. The chill of the night finally had fallen on the city giving a little break from heat of the day. Despite the late hour Paris was alive. People were walking or driving along the streets, like a multi-colored blood. Sitting in the gardens of cafes and relaxing in the parks, filling the space with conversations, laughter and singing. So carelessly and cheerfully. They behaved normally, as always at this time, enjoying the beginning of summer, completely ignoring the fact that their city was attacked every few days by the sinister magical powers. Parisians cheered whenever they spotted their beloved superheroes on duty. Chat waved at the giggling group of girls and looked at his partner standing next to him.  
Ladybug seemed absent. Her attention was drifting somewhere far away, even though he was talking to her all evening. She never had done this before. She always listened to him attentively, even when he was getting one of his verbal diarrheas. This was how he relived his stress and anger - quarrels with his father or problems at school - he would talk and talk until he would find inner peace again. She never complained or asked him to shut up.  
“My Lady…” he said suddenly, breaking off in mid-sentence. She looked up at him absentmindedly and smiled sheepishly. “Is there something bothering you?”  
She shook her head quickly, but then sighed.  
“Bad day?” Chat asked, surrounding her waist with his arm and pulling her closer. She rested her cheek against his chest, listening to his rapid heartbeat and ragged breath after the run.  
“Yeah something like that…”  
“You won’t believe this, but I also had no luck in the last few days.”  
Suddenly she shifted her head, grabbing him by the shoulders and looked him in the eye. He raised his eyebrows questioningly, but she said nothing. She bit her lower lip, as she was thinking about something.  
He had no idea what worried her, but he would give anything just to be able to help and take all her problems away. He alone was deep in shit up to his eyes, but would gladly take her troubles, if only it was possible.  
“You're too wonderful to be so worried” he whispered, leaning over to kiss her.  
“Chat” her voice was suddenly strong. She pushed him away slightly. “Listen... I’m not sure but I might be not too much available for some time... It's just... family matters.”  
"Should I be worried?" “No... It's nothing... nothing…”  
“Hey” he leaned forward, grasped her chin and lifted her face up. “If only I could help...”  
“I can handle this” she said smiling weakly. He adrored that smile. He loved everything about this girl. He knew that no matter who was under that red spotted mask he already loved that girl to the moon and back.  
“Listen to me, now you” he said seriously. “However far away, I will always love you. However long you stay away, I will always love you…”  
Ladybug frowned, cocking her head.  
“Are you … Are you quoting The Cure?”  
Adrien mentally kicked himself in the ass. This is how ends driving with Nino in his car. His friend always played radio station with rock oldies.  
“…maybe?”  
“I don't know if it's possible, but I love you even more right now” she sighed, grabbing him by the neck and drawing closer his lips closer to hers. “Every moment spend with you, is a moment I treasure.”  
“Dear God... Aerosmith…” he mumbled between kisses, feeling his knees getting weak. “I can’t believe that you actually exist…”  
Father can shove those engagements up in his ass, he thought, feeling Ladybugs tongue in his mouth. This girl was the one and only for him.  
He will marry her or die trying.

 

“Whew… We are finally free… The horror is over” Alya with a sigh of relief collapsed on a red leather couch.  
“The worse thing is that we have to go back there tomorrow” said Marinette intently studying the menu. “I’m not sure what to take… Rose... what are you ordering?”  
“Strawberry milkshake!” sing sang Rose, pointing pink nailed finger at the biggest dessert on display.  
“You'll get diabetes” Juleka murmured, looking at her friend and shaking her head disapprovingly.  
“Where’s Alix?” asked Alya, looking around warily. “She owes me a cake with cream and chocolate.”  
Alya to distract Marinette from her problems, suggested girls escapade to the cafe after school. It was the trendiest place among Parisian youth today. The interior was decorated in the style of 50s - the big couches, flashy colors, high stools at the bar, and of course the jukebox.  
The girls took the biggest table in the corner of the cafe and chatted while eating their desserts. Juleka and Rose were discussing enthusiastically about the latest episode of a TV series. Alix argued with Alya about something and Mylene listened to them, giggling. No one invited Chloe nor Sabrina luckily.  
Marinette was sipping her banana shake trough striped straw, hoping that these kilograms of sugar will transform into endorphins inside her body and soon hit her head. She had a gloomy mood all day. It's been three days and she still didn’t came up with a good plan. Well in fact she didn’t have any plan at all. Guilt and anger were constantly tearing her apart.  
“Okay, that’s enough!" she heard Alix’s voice and raised her head just to see her friend leaning over her. “Mari I can’t stand watching you in such state. When Alya told me…”  
“You told someone?!” Marinette drawled, looking indignantly at her friend. “How could you? I specifically asked you not to!” Alya made stupid face, while chewing her cake. She didn’t looked as if she was sorry. On the contrary, she had this devilish gleam in her eye that suggested that he has some crazy idea. Mari got goosebumps on the back. The last time she saw it, they landed on the front of pissed mothers duo, while having hair painted in purple and flower crowns on their heads. Long story short, they didn't get to the music festival.  
“Who else knows?” Mari hissed, looking around.  
Juleka and Rose at least looked as if they were sorry. Mylene had concern in her big eyes.  
“This is nonsense!” Alix by contrast, didn’t showed any bit of remorse. “How can you agree on this Mari? Listen my plan goes like this: on Saturday we come at your place... fast storm on the house and we take you out of your torturers hands…”  
“My parents are not torturers” snorted Marinette, doing everything to ignore Alya’s pointing at Alix, as if she wanted to say, "See? This is a normal person reaction."  
“Guys, listen... Maybe he will be a very nice guy?” Mylene interjected, trying to sound supportive. Mari smiled at her with gratitude. “You know... This doesn’t have to be bad thing…”  
“This is oppression!” Alix snapped, banging her fist on the table, so hard that all spoons felt to the floor.  
Tired of hearing this, Marinette dived under the table to pick all the cutlery. While she was down on her knees, there was small commotion next to their table.  
“Excuse us gentlemen, today we were here first” she heard Alix's voice, triumph ringing in it. Several pairs of elegant men's shoes marched away.  
When Mari returned to the surface, there was no sign of the intruders, but her friends were clearly agitated.  
“Who was that?”  
“These guys from St. George's” snorted Alix eyeing someone in the distance with murderous look. “Every week they try to steal our seats. Paris is too small for us all! I really hate them.”  
“I don’t know... This one with glasses is kinda cute…” Alya murmured, peering under her lashes at the group of boys, who sat on the opposite side of the cafe, behind a big jukebox.  
“Cesarie! Focus for God's sake! Our poor Sandra D has a problem and we're here to help her!”  
“Look, girls…” Mari sighed, pinching bridge of her nose with her fingers. “I appreciate your concerns. I love you both but I'm big girl and I can handle it on my own.”  
“But…”  
“Ok, you two, stop that. I don't need help” she said sharply, standing up and pointing her finger at Alya and Alix. “And don’t call me Sandy! I would definitely not fall for some kind Danny Zuko for sure! Now I'm going to the bathroom, and when I come back, we stop talking about this.”

 

“How to make a girl to dislike you?”  
Adrien asked loudly and group of his classmates, who were comfortably seated on the couch at the table. Boys gaped at him as if he was a talking cow or something equally rare.  
Kim leaned to Adrien, his face serious all of a sudden.  
“What level of this disliking we talking about?”  
“Less than a restraining order, and more love at first sight” confessed Adrien and his friends laughed.  
“Dude, you've come to the right place” Max snorted, adjusting his glasses. “You can say that we are experts in this field.”  
“I doubt, however, that our methods will help you, pretty boy” said Nino, and then bit into his burger.  
“With your supermodel face it will be difficult for you to discourage someone.”  
“I'm not pretty” grumbled Adrien, taking a big, angry bite of his pizza slice.  
He hated when his friend was reminding the fact that as a child Adrien worked several years as a model. At first he liked it, but quickly got tired when it turned out that he has become very recognizable. He once bragged about this to the Ladybug, but she did not believed him.  
When his buddies found out who and how Adrien wants to discourage, they kinda lost their minds.  
“He's insane, isn’t he?” asked Max, looking at Nino.  
“Someone offers you a girl? You can skip the whole process of picking up, dating and all the fuss, and you refuse?”  
“Well, technically speaking…”  
“Agreste you are dead to me!”  
Adrien groaned, rubbing violently his face with both of his hands.  
Suddenly, his classmates became even more alive. Adrien's head snapped up. This sudden burst of enthusiasm was caused by a girl who walked past their table. He got only a glimpse of her as she veered toward the toilets. He only noticed that she had dark hair and was dressed in the Fleur-de-Luce high school uniform. This alone was enough to attract his friends’ attention. In their school there was a legend that only prettiest chicks from all over Paris attend to that high school. He sincerely doubted that, given that Chloe was one of the students there.  
“Have you seen her legs?” Kim exclaimed, standing up and leaning forward. His elbow hit his glass, the contents of which splashed on Adrien's lap.

While washing her hands in the bathroom, she tried to avoid her own gaze in the mirror. She knew that her reflection will look at her disapprovingly.  
Once again she asked herself why she was so stubborn. After all, she should be grateful that she has such awesome friends who wants to rescue her. Even though she didn’t need saving.  
Why did she always had to do everything alone? Even as the Ladybug she worked in a duet with Cat. She probably should tell him what's bothering her. He was her boyfriend after all. Only she was one hundred percent sure Chat would do something crazy and then they would have both regretted it. Oh no she couldn’t let him try to kidnap her or kill that poor guy, who happened to be her mysterious fiancé.  
No, no, Marinette didn’t want anyone to worry. Her problems were her own thing and if she couldn’t solve them without somebody's help, for her that was the sign that she is not suitable as defender of Paris.  
She walked toward the exit, making her mind finally. She had stop her friends and at all costs and also somehow avoid that her boyfriend would found out about her fiancé. So, it shouldn’t be difficult…  
Right?  
Marinette really hoped that no one will die during this madness.  
She opened the door, perhaps a little too vigorously, because she heard a thud and a loud "Ouch" on the other side.  
“Oh, God, I'm so sorry!” she called frightened. The blond tall boy, who was entering in a hurry the men's room, stumbled at the door, rubbing his head. “Are you ok?”  
He didn’t even turn around, just waved her and then the door closed behind him.  
When she returned to the table, her friends were just in the middle of producing a list of the worst behaviors which chase away men.  
Marinette felt that she had too little sugar in the blood for that.

 

After spending ten minutes in a humiliating pose under the hand dryer, Adrien was furious and sweaty, and on the top of that some crazy girl banged his head with the door. He felt that he would need the biggest piece of chocolate cake to make it to the end of this day. He went to the counter by the cash register. There were so many desserts that he didn’t know what to choose.  
In front of him in the queue were two girls who loudly wondered what to order. The smaller of them, was talking about cakes like she was some kind of an expert. After several minutes’ examination, girls decided to order chocolate cake with walnut cream. Adrien at the beginning thought that the girl acting like pastry adept but in reality doesn't know what she is talking about, but in the end he bought the same.  
When Adrien was a boy, his parents didn’t spoiled him with sweets. He had a weekly limit, which was of course idea of his father. Gabriel Agreste was a big fan of being fit and overall healthy diet. He despised everything which contained sugar, artificial colors, and preservatives. When Adrien met Ladybug, his life, and especially his menu, has changed dramatically.  
It started with all sorts of sweet goodies, which she was bringing on patrols from time to time. When she saw how fast he devoured her gifts, she began taking with her whole boxes of sweets.  
Since then his brain was always connecting the sweetness of chocolate with Ladybug. After eating all those baked goods, after about a month she finally admitted that she was the author of these delicacies, Adrien become skilled in pastries, like culinary critic. He could recognize by the smell a good chocolate and sense what spices were are added to cookies. Among his friends he was considered somewhat an expert in the field of sweets.  
He bought dessert, returned to the table and tried to focus on eating while his classmates went on his stupidity.

 

Not only her friends cared that she won’t sit at alone home and worry. When she heard someone's scared screams, she knew she should act. When she reached the Victory Square, she saw a picture of utter chaos.  
“I’m Bridezilla and if I won’t have a perfect day today, no one will!”  
Akuma - this time it was a tall, skinny girl in the torn and stained wedding dress - stood in the middle of the square surrounded by large crowd of people. They were arguing, yelling and some of them even pushing each other. She laughed like a classic manic super-villain with a plan to destroy the world.  
Marinette’s inner fashion designer winced at the sight of ugly dresses that the girl was wearing. All these bows, puffy sleeves straight from the eighties and a ton of frills and tulle. For this horrible grown this girl should be arrested by the police.  
“Today everything has to be according to plan!” akuma cried frantically, hurling flowers from her wilted bouquet into people. “This is my special day!”  
Marinette sighed, then she set her yo-yo in motion. Hawkmoth had an absurd sense of mood sometimes. She wrote a memo for herself to kick his ass extra hard once she met the villain.  
“Well, miss” she snapped, moving toward the akuma. “Forgive me spoil you your "happily ever after"!”

 

Gabriel and Adrien sat on opposite sides of the desk, and between them laid a sheet of paper. It was Adrien's bank statement.  
“You can explain it to me?” Gabriel said slowly, pointing at paper.  
Adrien shook his head in silence. Of course he could, but he was not going to do that. Gabriel's eyes narrowed dangerously.  
“I've had enough of your acting up. I was putting up with this too long. It's time for you suffer the consequences of your actions..."  
Adrien slided his hand into his hoodie pocket, closing his fingers on a small velvet box. It doesn’t matter what he will hear now, because in a moment his boldest plan will came up to life and perhaps he will disappear from this house forever.  
Gabriel joined his fingertips at the height of his mouth, while carefully watching his son.  
“Well...” he finally said, sighing heavily. “If you do not intend to talk to me, then go to your room.”  
“You can’t order me” Adrien bursted out. “I am an adult.”  
“If you want to be treated like an adult, then start act like one!” Gabriel rose behind his desk. “Now you are behaving like a child! Go to your room and think about what you've done!”  
“I have a right to…”  
“Enough! If you keep talking back I will take your other privileges too” Gabriel hissed, clenching his hands on the edge of his desk. “I already should take twelve of them. One for every thousand euros, which you spent!”  
Adrien turned around and walked out of father's study and then went straight into his room. He was so furious that he breathed with difficulty. He was about to dramatically throw himself on the bed again this week, when his phone chimed. It was Ladyblog notification.  
Unfortunately, when he realized that, he should be elsewhere at this moment, lock on his door clicked loudly.  
Adrien was trapped.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Blood drummed loudly in his ears. He wanted to hurt her, to make her really angry. To make her so miserable as he was.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aka the one where Adrien looses his shit.  
> Ok, guys we are almost done! I'm so happy you liked my work so far :D This won't definitely be the only one series I will write for ML fandom. I'm already writing something. This fandom will be death of me.  
> I'm sorry for nude scenes. Well I'm really not. Just trying to sound decent :D

Marinette had enough. She was angry, tired and Chat was nowhere to be found. She struggled with akuma already for half an hour or longer. The whole neighbourhood was wrecked.  
“If I can’t be happy, no one will!” Bridezilla roared, pouncing with claws on Ladybug. Superhero jumped out of her way at the last minute.  
“You know what? You are starting getting already on my nerves…”  
That fight was taking too long. This akuma was not a quitter that’s for sure. On the contrary, every pair of quarrelling people gave her energy and allowed her to grow bigger. Already she was four times higher than at the beginning. Screaming and waving wildly her bouquet, she trampled cars and crashed the windows in surrounding buildings.  
“Lucky charm!” called Ladybug, throwing her yo-yo up to the sky. “Lasso? What I'm supposed to do with this?” she asked herself out loud, looking at the magical object that landed in her hands.  
She hurriedly looked around.  
The blow came from the back, tired and distracted Ladybug didn't react in time. She stumbled, losing her balance. In a moment her entire field of vision was filled with a gigantic bouquet of white roses. The blow was so strong that all air was squeezed out of her lungs. She tumbled few meters back and slammed her back against the metal fence which was surrounding the statue of Louis XIV. Groaning, she sank to the ground. If she hadn't Tikki’s magic protection, every bone in her body would have been broken long ago. She heard loud ringing in her ears from the collision. Her legs refused to obey her, when she tried to stand.  
As the akuma was getting stronger, Ladybug felt as if her powers were leaving her body. She was so weak without Chat Noir. There was good reason that they were a duo.  
“Give me your stupid miraculous, Ladybug and maybe let you be my maid of honor!”  
Marinette hid behind the statue, gasping for air frantically. She was still little dizzy from the hit.  
“Pick up... pick up…” she begged, pressing hastily green icon. No response. Where the hell was he? Even if somehow he landed somewhere on the other side of the city, since akuma attack passed so much time that Chat should have been here by now. “Ah! Eat your stupid tail, you alley cat!” she screamed at the pictures of her boyfriend, then jumped to her feet.

 

Chat Noir sprinted at full speed, but he knew too well that he won’t make it on time. He leaped down from the roof into the street, jumped over the head of this crazy blogger who always followed him and Ladybug, precisely at a time when his girlfriend was waving goodbye to the white like snow butterfly. Behind her laid an unconscious girl in a big and fluffy wedding dress, shackled tightly with red rope. A moment later the whole area was flooded with magical pink light and which made all damage caused by Akuma disappear.  
Ladybug stood the centre of the square with her fist on her hips.  
Chat, when he saw her, felt warmth spreading throughout his entire body. He wanted to catch her in a bear hug and pepper with kisses. He walked towards her, spreading his arms.  
However, Ladybug seemed not happy to see him. Her lovely face twisted into a grimace.  
“Where were you?” she said, skipping greetings.  
He blinked, surprised by her anger.  
“I couldn't get out the house…” he tried to smile casually, but his head still ached at the place where he banged it on the frame as he tried to escape through a window in the bathroom. ”Nothing worth talking about, trust me.”  
“I needed you here!” she snapped, waving her arms angrily. “In case you had forgotten, we work as a team.”  
He didn’t like tone of her voice.  
“You don’t have to remind me” he drawled, taking a step back. He wasn't so sure now if he was so happy to see her. “I'm saying that I had problems. After all you did a good job here on your own.”  
“But it was really hard.”  
He snorted, waving his hand carelessly. He felt like blood in his veins was about to boil. Adrien had enough. He was so freaking tired of this damn week. First father, then his buddies and now his own girlfriend. As if everybody on this whole blasted world wanted him to suffer.  
“Big deal! You swirled around, caught a butterfly and that’s it!” he blurted out and seeing how outraged his words made her, gave him somehow savage satisfaction.  
Ladybug clenched her jaw, frowning. It wasn't the first time Adrien saw her angry, but perhaps never so furious. A dark blush bloomed on her pale cheeks.  
“Oh no you didn't” she said slowly, stretching syllables.  
“Well you heard me...”  
“What the hell were you thinking?! It sounded like I was some kind of damn Sailor Moon. For your information, sir, I'm not doing just pirouettes and chant spells! I'm saving Paris!”  
“Really? Because last time I checked, I was the one who got his ass kicked for this city!”  
She was practically shaking with anger, but he couldn't care less. Right now all he wanted to was to annoy her as much as he could.  
“Don’t act like a victim!” Ladybug snorted, rolling her eyes theatrically and he felt something inside him snapped.  
A wave of rage flooded his entire body. At that very moment he hated her every, even the smallest, bit of her. Strangling her with bare hands right now would give him wild satisfaction.  
“Excuse me, but you threw me off from the roof once! Kicked me into the Seine!  
“I did that to defeat…”  
“Into the bloody river! What kind of girlfriend does that?”  
“You know what? I don’t have time to listen you feeling sorry for yourself! If working with me really makes you that miserable, then next time don’t even bother coming!” she screamed, looking at him with pure contempt. Her earrings chimed loudly.  
Blood drummed loudly in his ears. He wanted to hurt her, to make her really angry. To make her so miserable as he was.  
“Maybe I will…”  
“Fine by me” snapped Ladybug, then unhooked yo-yo from her hip and threw it over his head. ” Goodbye.”  
“Good riddance!” he roared after her. As soon as she disappeared behind the roof of a nearby building, he felt like the biggest idiot in Paris.

 

Bright zigzags of lightning illuminated dark horizon over Paris. A storm was coming. Marinette crouched on the stairs, staring blankly over the roofs of buildings, her wrists wet from wiped tears. Since she came back home, several hours passed. A cup of cold tea stood one step under girl’s foot, Mari was so preoccupied that she forgot about it, the moment she set it aside.  
As big as peas drops of rain began to drum on the window.  
Mari sniffed loudly, feeling that this night she probably won’t get much sleep. Loud thunder rolled over the roof of her house.  
“I'm beginning to think that there was a reason I had no boyfriend before Chat” Mari whispered, resting forehead on her knees.  
“One argument is not a reason for self-doubt, Marinette” said Tikki from the opposite end of the room. “You are both young, inexperienced…”  
“You don't understand…” sobbed the girl. “I've never been so angry at him. I behaved like some kind of ungrateful shrew…”  
“He was not a perfect gentleman either” interjected Tikki, but Mari shook her head.  
“But he was right…”  
Marinette slid down the stairs and headed for the bathroom. She switched on the light and turned on the water. Sitting on the edge of the tub, she slowly drew layer of her clothes.  
Back then she really wanted to see him. She waited so long, worried about him. Only when he finally showed up, anger took over her body and Mari lost control over her words. She wanted Chat to beg for her forgiveness, down on his knees, swearing that he won’t be never late again. But Chat Noir was not that kind. Now that Marinette have calmed down, she wasn’t surprised of the way he reacted.  
Girl undid her hair, running her fingers through the tangled strands. She reached for a bottle of bubble bath and poured a little fragrant vanilla mixture into the water. After a moment, she added two small sparkling bath bombs too.  
If only she could turn back time, she would fix everything. No more opening her mouth without thinking before. Instead weeping alone at home, she could now sit at the top of the Arc de Triomphe, nestled in Chat’s arm. Maybe planning something crazy for the weekend?  
Mari slipped into the tub, letting the hot water, wrap her battered and tired body. She sank up to the nose, as her muscles loosened up a bit.  
This whole week sucked, although it was only Thursday

 

Adrien with animal like roar swung his fist in leather punching bag, suspended under the entresol of his room. Not taking any break he punched it again and again and then round kicked the bag with all his strength. The chain broke and with a loud thud hit the floor. Angry boy aimed another kick, this time in the training equipment stand. Wooden structure collapsed and everything clattered on the ground. Adrien fell to his knees and leaning on his fists, panted loudly as if he wasn't breathing for the past hour. Sweat ran from his forehead and dripped to the floor.  
“You're acting like a lunatic” Plagg hovered over boy’s head. “Do you plan to very slowly and painfully kill yourself? You have been training to the death and you don't eat nor drink.  
“Nonsense…” Adrien snapped, picking up shirt and wiping his face with it.  
He got up and staggering from exhaustion, dragged himself to the bathroom. He tore off his clothes and stepped into the shower. The stream of cold water hit his face, causing chills wandering down the spine.  
Despite the cold and fatigue, he was still furious. Midnight has passed long time ago, yet he couldn't calm down. If only he could, he would turn this damn house into rumble, kicking down every wall.  
He leaned his forehead against the tiles, staring at his feet.  
He couldn't believe that he went there with proposal to Ladybug on his mind and came back wanting to never seeing her again. The terrible shame was killing him. All those things he said in anger... He did not mean any one of them. So many things happened recently. He was confused and dead tired... When she started yelling at him, he felt somewhat betrayed. Ladybug was right, he was just feeling sorry for himself. She had no idea what happened in his life, so for her Adrien sounded like whiny crybaby.  
He brushed hair from his face, sighing heavily. Stream of icy water roamed his body, giving relief to his tormented by murderous workout muscles. He hissed when cold painfully met his knuckles, swollen from multiple blows.  
Despite all horrible thing they both said to each other, Adrien still wanted to be with Ladybug. If only he knew where to go, he would run in this crazy storm to her house and stood by the window until she would let him in.


	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Well, now they done it. She should immediately jump out of her spotted suit as soon as she had the chance and write down for Chat Noir her name, address and the fact that sometimes on Friday evenings she is sitting all alone in a big house, and would be more than happy not to close the lock in her trapdoor on the ceiling.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ok so here we are, at the end on my first long ML fic. I'm so proud of myself for writing that, given English is not my first language.  
> Anyway! This won'y be my last multi chapter fic gor this fandom, for sure.  
> Ps. Merry Christmas guys! Read my Christmas special fic which I will update tomorrow.

She couldn’t believe that Saturday came so quickly. Days were slipping through her fingers, although she did everything to make it otherwise.  
Sitting in front mirror and applying red lipstick on her lips with small brush, she felt scared and angry at the same time. Her hand stopped halfway when Tikki appeared at the height of her face. Kwami looked worried.  
“You look lovely” she said, looking at the Marinette and trying to smile supportive.  
“And that's the problem…”  
Alya couldn’t fullfill her promise. Sabine didn’t let them alone, even for one second. She watched each loose strands of hair or sticked eyelashes. The result was far more than good, Mari looked simply stunning. Thanks to the incredible abilities of her friend, her eyes were wonderfully highlighted a lips enticingly enhanced. The girl's hair were elegantly subdued and pinned into a loose bun. Alya and Sabine had lot of work with securing this whole construction of hair and gold-ruby ornaments in the shape of flowers.  
“Girl I really like to say, you look terrible, but I can’t” Alya sighed, as she was walking to the door. “That guy will be a moron if he won’t fall in love with you at first sight.”  
Now, when Marinette was alone, she needed almost titanic strength to refrain herself from crying. She was terribly afraid of this meeting. Oh how she wished Chat would came here through the window and waving his baton menacingly, snatched her somewhere far away.  
But this couldn't have happened of course. The main reason of this was Marinette’s stupid stubbornness, which caused that her boyfriend had no idea who she really was. At first she was worried of her family, so I refrained from reveal who she was. Then, when she realized what he felt about her, she simply chickened out. To her is seemed completely impossible for Chat to love this girl on the other side of the mask. As the months went by they got the chance to get each other better, until finally it turned out that he is not a superhero, but super dork, crazy about movies, anime and comics, and of that they fitted perfectly. Like they were meant to each other. Despite that she hesitated with this reveal. After next couple of months, she had to admit with shame, that the fact that he didn’t know her in civilian life, added a little spice to their relationship.  
Well, now they done it. She should immediately jump out of her spotted suit as soon as she had the chance and write down for Chat Noir her name, address and the fact that sometimes on Friday evenings she is sitting all alone in a big house, and would be more than happy not to close the lock in her trapdoor on the ceiling.  
Angrily she threw brush on the counter and sighed heavily. Their stupidity should be measured in kilometers  
Finally she looked her reflection in the eye. And she automatically felt several tonnes of guilt. She should be doing all this for Chat, whoever he really was, not some random guy who her parents had choosen.  
If only he could see her now... She closed her eyes, imagining his reaction. Maybe Alya put too much makeup on her face? She wondered if he liked glamorous girl or perhaps natural type.  
She knocked impatiently on the dressing table.  
“I'm so glad that you are going there with me” she said to Tikki, extending her hand toward kwami. “I feel I could really use some support.”  
“I wouldn’t let you go alone” assured creature, nuzzling into her fingers. “If something goes terribly wrong get your spots on and whisk off!”  
“I'll take your word on that, Tikki. Only you know that then there is no turning back, huh? We leave Paris and run away abroad.”  
“Well I know some people in China…” Kwami mused, rubbing her cheek thoughtfully.  
“Anywhere but China” snapped girl, sliding into place one of the gold pins, which she had in her hair. “I'm sick of this country, although I’ve never in been there.”  
Footsteps pounded on the stairs, and then the trapdoor opened.  
“Are you ready?” came Sabine’s voice. “Do you need my help with putting on the dress?”  
Marinette hurriedly pushed kwami in to her jewelry box, to hide her from her mother.  
“I'll be fine…” she squealed, quickly turning her back to the mirror.  
The dress in question was hanging on a cabinet door inside of a protective cover. Sabine specifically went for it to her sister, who lived near Paris. It turned out that this was the same outfit, in which the grandmother Cheng appeared at her matrimony meeting. By the coincidence it had Marinette’s exact size. Girl suspected that her mother and aunt worked on it in secret. Hiding the fact from all Marinette’s cousins, who wanted that dress for themselves.  
Sabine went to the closet and drew the cover off, pulling that little miracle made of red silk. Mari swallowed hard loudly. She could not deny that it was simply divine. Until now, she never liked Chinese the traditional costumes, but this dress made automatically changed her mind.  
When she put it on, she felt like silk gently hugged her body.  
The dress was long, almost down to the ankles, but at the same time fitted perfectly. It’s only adornment was a beautiful embroidery, which started on the left shoulder and then went down all the way down to the girl’s right hip. It was like a tiny work of art made of all kinds of flowers - cherry blossoms, roses, lotuses and asters. And all this in addition decorated by an army glittering insects. Marinette ran her fingers over it, feeling the texture of different colored threads and beads. Her hand stopped on the heart where was sewn on a tiny ladybug made of glass. Marinette gaped, but quickly she remembered that she is not alone in the room. She looked up and smiled at his mother.  
“It’s wonderful” admitted Mari quietly, once again regretting that Chat was not the one waiting there waiting for her.  
“Red is a lucky color” said Sabine, putting his hand on her daughter's shoulder.  
“I know…”  
“Thank you for doing this for me.”  
Mari lifted up her head, looking at her mother in surprise. Sabine had tears in her eyes. It was not simply keeping old promise to someone from the past. It was something more. Much more personal than Mari thought. Maybe her mother really didn’t wanted to do mess her day for no reason?  
“Elaine was very cared about happiness of her son” Sabine stroked her daughter's cheek and smoothed sleeves of the dress. “I would to like you, darling, to give that boy a chance, okay?”  
“Ok, Mom…” Marinette promised, completely in spite of himself.

 

“How do I look?”  
“Mmmm... clean?”  
“Plagg you are terrible advisor, you know?”  
Black kwami shrugged his small shoulders and drifted away into the room in search of cheese. Adrien growled angrily, then turned to the mirror to take care of his hair. After all those days of being perfect, Adrien’s hair have chosen today as the day to rebel and stick in all directions. He should seriously consider Nino’s advice to sleep in a bike helmet.  
It was hopeless, no matter how much he put hair gel, his hair did, what it wanted. As if his body rebelled today, giving him a sign that under no circumstances he shouldn’t go out that evening from the room.  
Leaving what was going on in his head, his shifted his attention to the tie. He wrestled with it for a moment, then sighed, hanging his head.  
“I look like a clown... I should be making idiot of myself for different girl…”  
Oh what he would give now to be getting ready for a date with Ladybug. The real, outright date without masks, but also with the possibility of smooching somewhere on the roof. He would bring her flowers, compliment her mom and shake hand of her dad. He would promise to walk her home before midnight and he would keep that promise. Simple, stupid things, but he was sure it would be amazing feeling to finally be able to do it. Oh, why didn’t he gathered the courage a months ago and didn’t pressed her to finally agree to tell him who she really is? Adrien’s life would be a hundred times better, if only he knew of who was he really dating. What kinda deal was that anyway? How could he ever agree to this? He didn’t know her name nor even birthday date. He absolutely knew nothing about his girlfriend. Who does that? Adrien was now so angry at Ladybug, that he wanted to strangle her.  
Yes, it turned him a little at the beginning, but for God's sake, he had had enough of this masquerade.  
“Listen, why are you getting all worked up about the whole thing?” Plagg asked, poking his head from the shoe which was lying in the corner of the room.  
“Good question” Adrien muttered, shooting his reflection in the mirror a look full of hate.  
The whole problem with Adrien was that he never allowed himself to do anything halfheartedly. As a student, he was at the top of his class, as a superhero, his life always was in mortal danger, and when he was supposed to be a representation of Agreste name, he wanted to look perfect.  
He hated himself for that.  
“Father will fry my ass on his hellfire if I won’t behave today” he sighed, and Plagg landed on his shoulder, spreading around the smell of stinky camembert. This fragrance combined with Adrien’s cologne, created an explosive mixture. “Uh Plagg, get off me. Maybe I don’t care much about good impression, but I don’t want this poor girl get sick. Have some mercy.”  
"Ladybug don’t mind how you smell” kwami groaned, rolling his venomously green eyes. “Ok that’s it. I have decided. Marry her. Don’t look for another girl.”  
“Can’t you see I'm trying?” Adrien hissed through his teeth, adjusting the cuffs of his stiff white shirt. “Besides, if you want to decide who I should marry, then take a number and stand in line. Apparently, everyone on this entire freaking planet is interested in my matrimonial situation.”  
Somewhere in the distance clock announced the time. Adrien took a deep breath, feeling like a balloon from which somebody let out all the air. He opened the front of his jacket and Plagg darted to the inside pocket. A moment later, Gabriel opened door to his room. He was even stiffer than the usual. Adrien thought that was father’s way to reacting on stressful situations. It was only a suspicion, because they never sat down and talked to each other about problems. They rarely even talked at all.  
“Are you ready?”  
“Ready as I ever be…”

 

Her parents assured her it was somewhere near, but according to Marinette’s calculations they were diving more than thirty minutes. They left the city and headed to the suburbs, passing by large houses of the wealthiest Parisians. She started wondering where exactly this mysterious fiancée of hers lives. There was beautiful sunset when they were setting off but now sun was completely hidden beyond the horizon. Bright city lights flashed in the window of the car, illuminating Mari’s pale face in different colors.  
When they passed the Eiffel Tower, Marinette felt a sharp sting in her heart, as if her body was telling her to go there. She suddenly caught herself thinking again about Chat. What was this dork doing now? Maybe he was there in the city, getting himself into troubles? Perhaps he hoped that his Ladybug and join him? She hoped that he wasn’t alone and angry. She wanted to be there, with him. To be able to hug him and kiss his funny nose, feel his big hand around her. She didn’t even have his number to call him and say how much sorry she was about things she said back then.  
She was sitting at the back of her dad’s car, tense and worried, staring out of the window. She haven’t spoken to her parents since they left their house, hoping that this silent protest will make them feel guilty. So far, she didn’t get the desired reaction from them. Sabine was like a rock, but Tom was showing bits of remorse. Too little in Marinette’s opinion. They were leading her to unfamiliar house, to the people she have never met and still acted like everything was super normal. She felt like cow on the livestock market.  
She could feel Tikki, hidden in her black beaded purse, fidgeting impatiently. Apparently, bad mood could affect girls and magical creature as well. Marinette undone ribbons and slipped her hand inside. Kwami clung to her hand, reassuringly patting girl’s fingers. Mari felt like a little warmth spilled over her body. At least one being in this world cared about her.  
Suddenly the car slowed down and then wheels crunched on the gravel driveway. Mari looked out the window she realized that they were in front of a large residence surrounded by a tasteful minimalistic garden.  
Getting out the car, she saw the big windows that lit by warm, golden light. In the largest one, stood someone, but she couldn’t see exactly the person, just a dark silhouette of a man.  
An elegant butler answered the door and led them into the house. Mari walked slowly, dragging herself behind her parents, admiring pictures on the walls. The mansion was spacious and very luxurious but the girl couldn’t help the feeling that it was empty and somehow scary.  
She was so lost in her thoughts that when her parents reached the end of the corridor and stopped, she bumped into her dad’s back. She staggered and if Tom hadn’t catched her, she would probably fe down. She was not used to wearing high heels. Yes, it made her look taller, but she was constantly worried that she was going to break her ankles.  
The door opened and her parents went inside. She paused on the threshold, as if on the verge of a cliff.  
Sabine urged her with annoyed gesture.  
Marinette swallowed a large lump in her throat and took a step forward.

 

Adrien stood at the window, watching illuminated Eiffel Tower in the distance. At the very moment he seriously considered the possibility of jumping out the window from the first floor and a marathon through the garden. He was fast, he might be able to escape bodyguards. He needed six seconds to get to the fountain. Twenty to reach to the garage. Adrien wondered if the garage door were locked. He didn’t had his keys on him so he would lost precious time trying to smash the lock. If he would go by foot, he would had gotten to the gate in less than two minutes. Even without transformation he would be able to jump over the fence. He did this countless times in his life, but then again there was always Nino waiting for him on a motorcycle at the other side. The only question was, how far he can get before father would put all security guards on their feet. Maybe he could transform somewhere into Chat and continue his run across rooftops.  
But then what?  
He was so engaged in all these calculations, that he almost missed arriving of the guests. He glanced over his shoulder and saw a large man with friendly face and a small woman with Asian features. Behind them stood someone, but Adrien couldn't see who it was, until the newcomers parted to the side.  
Gabriel walked quickly toward the guests to greet them, but Adrien did not move.  
Mainly because he couldn’t.  
He felt as if his jaw almost slammed to the floor.  
It was impossible that before him stood a real girl. She was more like a phenomenon, dream...  
He recognized her at once. God, how he could he not?  
Big bluebell eyes of the girl studied every detail of his face. She was biting her lower lip in frustration. Adrien absorbed the view him, congratulating himself that he didn’t jumped out the window in the end.  
He was aware that he was grinning like a madman, but he couldn't care less. Finally he was able to enjoy the view of her face without a mask.  
She recognized him, he could see that clearly. She tried not to smile, with poor result. She gave him a sidelong glance from under her lashes, a sweet blush spreading across her cheeks.  
Yes, red was definitely her color.  
"Adrien... Adrien!"  
He realized that father was calling him with annoyed voice. Gabriel was furious, but tried hard not to show it. If his look could kill, Adrien would be probably lying dead on the floor.  
"Adrien, don’t just stand there." Gabriel drawled. "This is miss Marinette Dupain - Cheng. And that is Sabine Cheng and Tom Dupain, her parents."  
He bowed to her parents, but didn’t even for a moment turn his eyes from the girl. He felt like if he do so, she might disappear, dissolve like morning fog. Adrien was afraid to even approach her, because if she would turn out to be just a hallucination, he wouldn’t probably be able to live without her.  
"I think we can now leave the young, so that they could know each other little better." He heard Sabine’s Cheng voice from afar.  
Gabriel tried to argue, but this petite woman had a look of a warrior and a magical gift of persuasion. Parents left quietly and deep silence felt in the room.  
Adrien knew he should say something, it was usually him who was the chatty one, but now he had a complete void in his head. It was like at this point he couldn’t makr a logical sentences in French.  
She looked up at him, tensing. She still stood firmly at the door, crumpling her dress material between her fingers.  
"Please, say something... Say something, to make me sure it’s you..." she whispered, shaking.  
He licked his lips and smiled.  
"I'll be the one who will fight for your honor... "Adrien blurted out, as her big eyes become larger and larger in surprise. "I'll be a hero you waiting for... We will live forever, knowing that together we did everything for the glory of love ..."  
She made a strange sound, something between a sob and a laugh and rushed to him, just to fell into his outstretched arms and hug him as hard as she could without breaking his ribs. Boy rested his cheek on the top of her head, greedily inhaling the sweet scent of her perfume. His heart was pounding inside his chest so hard that she probably could feel it through his shirt.  
He felt like girl's petite arms were shaking and he was sure that she was crying. He wanted to tell her something, calm down her somehow, when she suddenly raised head to look at him. At this point, Adrien was sure that his brain stopped working for a moment.  
She was laughing! That little devil was, shaking with laughter!  
Well, after all, this girl was a tough cookie. What the hell was he thinking? That he will hug her and wipe tears from her cheeks, like the main character of a romantic novel? This girl was walking through fires and collapsing buildings, as if it was a stroll in the park.  
If someone was there to cry that was probably Adrien because he was so happy that he could faint.  
"People have wrote billions and billions of songs about love and you're quoting me Karate Kid soundtrack?"  
"I'm sorry" he snorted, then kissed her forehead. "I couldn’t resist ..."  
"You're such an idiot, Chat..." she sighed fondly.  
"Adrien" he reminded her helpfully. "Adrien Agreste, the love of your life."  
"Marinette Dupain Cheng" she introduced herself with a chuckle.  
"Finally I know the name of my future wife" Adrien let out a deep breath of relief as Marinette wrinkled her freckled nose.  
"Excuse me, sir, nothing is decided yet" she said, pursing her lips. "I don’t have a ring on my finger and nobody knelt on one knee to ask me about something.  
"We can fix that very quick..."  
He grabbed the girl by the hand and walked toward the exit, leading her behind. She stared at him intently, as if she was very curious what he would do.  
Adrien kicked the door open and stood on the threshold.  
"Dad!" He roared the top of his lungs. "We need to talk!"


End file.
